健康与遗传心理学研究室知识库

药物成瘾是以强迫性觅药和用药行为为核心特征的慢性脑疾病。从初始用药到强迫性用药是成瘾者的觅药行为从目标导向性向习惯化发展的过程。强迫性觅药和用药行为是依赖于背外侧纹状体的习惯化行为,同时前额叶皮层-背内侧纹状体通路对行为的控制减弱,导致感觉运动皮层-背外侧纹状体通路对行为的控制持续占主导地位,是成瘾行为具有强迫性特征的重要神经基础。本项目围绕这一重要问题展开研究,在建立具有成瘾特征的动物模型的基础上,采用行为学、行为药理学和组织形态学等方法揭示皮层-纹状体通路在强迫性觅药和用药行为中的作用。研究结果有望为进一步寻找该神经网络参与成瘾行为的分子机制提供重要线索。

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and taking behaviors. From initially go-directed drug use to compulsive drug taking, the drug-seeking behavior in addicts becomes more and more habitual. Compulsive drug seeking and taking behaviors are habitual behaviors depending on dorsolateral striatum, and the impaired function of the prefrontal cortex-dorsomedial striatum pathway, which leads to persistent control of behavior by sensorimotor cortex-dorsolateral striatum pathway, is an important neural mechanism underlying compulsive addicted behaviors. The study will establish the animal model of drug addiction and adopt behavioral, behavioral pharmacological and morphological techniques to discover the role of the cortex-striatum pathway in compulsive drug seeking and taking behaviors. The results may shed light on the possible molecular mechanisms involved in drug addiction.